Almada Cortiza

Las Vegas - USFloors entered the 2010 Surfaces floorcovering expo with a positive attitude and unveiled an innovative assortment of sustainable flooring options to a positive reception by retailers attending from all over the country. With steady traffic over the course of the 3 day expo, the company is optimistic in the outlook for improved business opportunities in 2010.

Product debuts included:

• Almada New Traditions in Cork, a collection of new cork patterns and colors in a 4” wide glueless plank.

• Natural Bamboo Expressions, featuring solid stained strand woven bamboo, Corboo, and wood grain enhanced strand.

• Vinacork, a new collection of glueless plank LVT with integrated cork. Vinacork includes wood and stone visuals.

• Refined Elegance, 6 handscraped oak and hickory floors.

• Aqua-Step, a 100% waterproof, yes I said waterPROOF, floors designed for installation in areas particularly prone to having water on the floor.

In addition, Navarre and Natural Bamboo Wovens, two oil finished lines introduced in 2009, were also on display. The companies flagship merchandiser, The Green Island, was also prominently displayed on the stand.

Product Details:

Almada, New Traditions in Cork

Almada cork floors have been designed and developed to put cork on par with a hardwood floor by producing cork floors in a 4” x 36” glueless CorkLoc format for a cork floor reminiscent of a more traditional hardwood floor. Almada includes never before seen cork veneer patterns in a range of in-stock colors developed in USFloors color lab at it’s manufacturing facility in Dalton, GA. Almada will be milled from panels and stained and finished a the Dalton, GA facility for a cork floor truly made in the U.S.A.

Taking it a step further, Almada includes a “mass customization” pallet of 36 designer colors allowing homeowners to create their own “custom colored” floor on any of 5 cork patterns. Almada will be finished with USFloors’ proprietary Endura AR finish and be certified by the GreenGuard Environmental Institute. The Almada collection is shown in large samples for maximum impact and merchandised in a space saving flip display .

Natural Bamboo Expressions - Solid Strand, Corboo, and Wood Grain Enhanced Strand

Featuring the most extensive, designer inspired assortment of strand woven bamboo floors, Natural Bamboo Expressions answers retailer demand for new and innovative flooring solutions in strand woven bamboo. Expressions includes solid strand woven natural, spice, tiger and trend setting stains; antiqued and hand scraped engineered strand; our patented Corboo in a variety of stains. Four selections incorporate a revolutionary wood grain enhanced technique that gives strand the look of tigerwood, brazilian cherry, teak and walnut. These state of the art products have the look of an exotic for a strand woven price. Large samples are merchandised in our versatile step rack.

Vinacork - LVT with Cork

USFloors took a step into the luxury vinyl tile category with the introduction of Vinacork, a collection of LVT floating floors featuring the CorkLoc glueless profile. Vinacork has a layer of cork sandwiched between the LVT wear layer and the HDF core, as well as an attached cork backer. The eco-friendly sustainable cork layers provide added warmth and comfort to the extreme durability of LVT. Vinacork’s floating floor format also eliminates costly installation sundries like floor levelers and odor-causing adhesives required for glue-down LVT. Unlike traditional glue-down LVT, Vinacork is more forgiving to subfloor imperfections that can telescope through a glue-down LVT floor. VinaCork features 6 wood visuals and 3 stone visuals merchandised in multiple full planks in a space saving compact wing display .

Aqua-Step 100% Water Proof Laminate Floors

Billed as the industry’s only 100% WATER PROOF laminate floor, USFloors previewed the revolutionary Aqua-Step product line to retailers at Surfaces 2010. The reception to the product line exceeded expectations and was well received by all dealers as a truly one-of-a-kind floor providing a solution for wet areas and rooms prone to standing water such as bathrooms, kitchens, mud rooms, exercise rooms, and even spas.

Aqua-Step is made from 100% recycled PVC making it impervious to water damage and, since it’s recycled, has the added value of being eco-friendly as well. Aqua-Step fits in every residential and commercial setting. Its highly advanced technical features (AC4, 0% swelling, natural sound reduction, energy safe), makes it the ideal floor for all wet areas. And with the convenient Uniclic system, Aqua-Step is a snap to install!

Refined Elegance Hand Scraped Hardwoods

USFloors unveiled a new collection of popular hand scraped oak and hickory floors to receptive dealers at Surfaces 2010 with its Refined Elegance collection. Refined Elegance includes 3 skus of 3” wide engineered hand scraped oak and 3 skus of 5” wide engineered hand scraped hickory each with a 2 mm wear layer in a 7 ply engineered tongue and groove construction. Refined Elegance floors feature a 25 Year Limited Residential Wear Warranty, a Lifetime Structure Warranty, and are Lacey Act and CARB Compliant.

Upon the closing of the show, USFloors President & CEO, Piet Dossche, commented on this year’s Surfaces saying, “While attendance was similar to 2009, the quality of the attendees was very high. They were very focused on finding ways to improve their business and help differentiate themselves from their competition. Their positive reception to our new product offerings indicates that USFloors can help them in that regard. Overall, there appears to be a general optimism about the coming year which could lead to a release of pent up demand. This in turn makes us optimistic for a good year in 2010.”

About USFloors

Based in Dalton, Georgia, USFloors (which is the brand moniker for Unique and Sustainable Floors) is a leading producer of sustainable, eco-friendly floors including cork, bamboo, linoleum and FSC-certified hardwood floors. The company also provides the products to the contract market under the USF Contract brand. USFloors is the ONLY supplier of cork and bamboo flooring with manufacturing facilities operating in the United States. USFloors' commitment is to provide consumers and specifiers with beautiful and durable floors at a good value, while minimizing the impact on the environment, and enhancing and improving it whenever possible.

For more information, visit www.usfloorsllc.com.